a Baltic addendum

[loligo]

Although my post on the culture and history of the Baltics was on the light-hearted side, there is one serious thing that I would like to call attention to, since related topics keep coming up in LJ fandom. I would love it if this book by Ruta Upite were more widely known and widely read (not an easy campaign, seeing as how it's out of print). I

Comments

[vaznetti]

I am trying to remember if this is the book I read about a girl who was sent with her family to a labor camp in Siberia (it was in our school library), but I think the girl in that story was younger when it started (7-10, maybe?), and it sounds much grimmer than what I remember (although now that I think about it, frostbite and eating raw potatoes were key themes of that book.)

I'll keep an eye out, though.

[loligo]

I think I know the one you're thinking of -- that's a different book. I can't remember the title of it, but I remember a scene with the girl seeing fields of sunflowers and eating sunflower seeds for the first time. Definitely a cheerier book, to the extent that any book about the gulag can be cheery.

[vaznetti]

Yes, I think you must be right about that. I think because the narrator was so young, it was presented almost as an adventure, even though it was also clear how much they suffered. She didn't understand the politics, only the way it affected her immediate family.

Got it!

[loligo]

The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig.